Paul's Education Agenda Receives Bipartisan Support

FOR RELEASE: February 4, 2000

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Ron Paul was optimistic this week after seeing the extensive bipartisan support he has received for his agenda to cut taxes to help middle class Americans' pay for education related expenses. Support is widespread for three different programs that Congressman Paul has championed over the last year to make higher education affordable for all families.

"Working families are struggling to pay college tuition bills, and for good reason. The cost of attending college continues to skyrocket," Paul said. "I'm very pleased to see members of both parties coming on board with the proposals that I have been advocating for years."

Paul was an original cosponsor last year of the "Make College Affordable Act of 1999" (HR 2750) which gives families a tax credit for tuition and fees for post-secondary education, including college, graduate school or training courses.

Paul's education agenda also includes making employer-provided graduate education tax free, as well as allowing student loan interest to be tax deductible, both ideas that he has championed through legislation in the past year (HR 323 and HR 1196). Both bills were designed to alleviate the increasingly burdensome problem of education costs by allowing expenses to be tax deductible.

Paul said that he looks forward to working with the White House and the congressional leadership to cut taxes on America's working-families to make college accessible for all children.

"While I oppose the current Administration's proposal to increase the role of Washington in the lives of our nation's schools, I am excited about the prospects of working to lower the burden on families trying to send their children to college," Paul said.

"Careful planning, saving and investments by families can help the process of funding a student's college education, but what do families do when savings are eroded by taxes and college tuition cost continues to rise as a result of inflation? The proposal's I've supported will increase accessibility to higher education and help working families deal with the sticker shock when writing tuition checks every semester."

Education is not the only issue on Paul's mind as Congress reconvenes for the last half of the session. Paul expressed his hopes that the President and Congress will support protecting Social Security trust funds through his "Social Security Preservation Act" (HR 219).

Paul said, "Making education affordable for all of our young people, and protecting the retirement of our seniors are my top priorities during this session of Congress. Politicians and bureaucrats in Washington have raided the Social Security trust funds for too long. We must take steps to protect our senior's retirements, and my 'Social Security Preservation Act' will go a long way to that end."